2008 Holden Commodore Omega - $38,290EGC

Holden VE Sportwagon

For a while there, the conventional station wagon was taking an awful hiding at the hands of the fashionistas. For reasons known only to those who forge new trends in what is otherwise the real world, the two-box family truckster fell out of favour.

The soft-roader was king of the suburbs back in the late noughties and meat-and-three-veg station wagons such as the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon were taking a hammering in the sales race.

There was no good reason for this and once Holden had identified that fact, it was free to bring sexy back ... in a station wagon.

By using the same wheelbase as the Commodore sedan, Holden was able to style a much chunkier, muscular-looking family wagon than ever before.

Available in every Commodore trim level up to and including the Calais, Holden ensured there was a Sportwagon ??? as the new wagon was called ??? for every buyer profile and every budget.

The wagon was also available in SS form, meaning it got the 270kW 6.0-litre V8 engine for some truly meaningful performance and a great towing package.

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The V8 could actually be relatively fuel-efficient, too, with its cylinder deactivation technology that shut down four of the eight cylinders when you didn't need them.

The biggest challenges the Commodore Sportwagon throws up are mainly to do with ergonomics and day-to-day use.

While that swept-back roofline looks great, it compromises the luggage space. Compared with the old VZ Commodore station wagon with its "normal" roofline, the VE is a much smaller car inside.

Holden figured that it was still big enough for many families and if that's what it took to get people out of soft-roaders then so be it. It's a difficult policy to argue with.

But that small rear window and shallow side glass also means the Sportwagon can be a bit difficult to see out of to the rear, particularly for shorter drivers.

And the view forward is blighted by the fat A-pillar that, in traffic, can hide other vehicles.

Inside, big annoyances include the power window switches mounted on the centre console and not the window ledge.

But a potentially more painful one is the park-brake lever. It is not only awkward to operate but also has the habit of jamming the driver's thumb as the lever is released.

While the new five and six-speed gearboxes in the Commodore range are still to show up any major deficiencies, the base-model cars still used the old four-speed version. It no longer holds any surprises for the trade.

Essentially, the gearbox should be fine until about the 170,000-kilometre mark, after which there is a fair chance it will need a full rebuild or major surgery.

Some cars have gone on way beyond that, and others haven't, so repair costs are worth factoring in if the Sportwagon you're looking at is an ex-fleet car or has simply covered big distances for its age.

On the same subject, watch out for cars with huge tow-bars fitted. These suggest a hard life of towing big loads and that, in itself, can shorten a gearbox's life considerably.

Engine-wise, most Sportwagons were fitted with a V6 engine - either the 175kW 3.6-litre unit or the smoother, more refined 195kW version.

Both units featured double overhead camshafts and were touted on their launch as being vastly superior to the old pushrod V6 they replaced.

The reality is, though, that neither is a pinnacle of mechanical refinement, although Holden was chasing improvements as running changes.

With that in mind, the later the build date on the car you're looking at, the better and sweeter it's likely to sound and feel.

The car's history is important, too. Being the vehicle it is, the Sportwagon (and Commodores generally) were popular with governments, private fleets and car rental agencies.

The danger with an ex-rental car is that it's been driven by 100 different people in the last 12 months, none of whom have cared a jot for the condition of the car after they've used it.

Government fleet cars are also often driven by a variety of people, many of whom can be pretty mechanically unsympathetic.

If the lower purchase price of an ex-fleet car bought at auction appeals, try to find one that has been used as executive transport and is more likely to have had just a single driver for the most part.

And no matter where you're shopping, beware of the car with lowered suspension and aftermarket wheels and tyres. Nothing screams "hoon driver" quite like that combination.

We've also heard of cars with modified suspension that give false-alarm stability control warnings, even though there's nothing actually wrong with the system.

It might have hit the market not quite 18 months ago but the model has been so popular that there are already plenty of second-hand Sportwagons out there to choose from.

Need to know -Make sure you don't buy an ex-fleet car by mistake. That's not to say they can't be decent cars but they're worth less than privately owned cars. -Four-speed automatic gearboxes can go the distance but 170,000 kilometres or so is about it for many. Servicing helps but it's no guarantee. -Be wary of modified cars. As well as the changes affecting the rest of the car, a radically altered car could be unroadworthy and all but impossible to insure.